Totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy using the hand-sewn Billroth-I anastomotic technique: report of a case.

The development of more sophisticated instruments has enabled advanced laparoscopic surgery. We recently devised a totally laparoscopic method of performing Billroth-I hand-sewn anastomosis and established this technique in an animal training model. This report presents the case of a 50-year-old man in whom totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy was successfully performed for gastric cancer, using the hand-sewn Billroth-I anastomotic technique. The patient was admitted with gastric cancer in the angle of the stomach and underwent laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with radical lymph node dissection. After the resected specimen was extracted through the small incision, a Billroth-I anastomosis was performed laparoscopically by the hand-sewn technique using the Albert-Leinbert method. The patient was discharged on the seventh postoperative day without any intra- or postoperative complications. Laparoscopic hand-sewn anastomosis was performed safely and allowed for quick recovery and good cosmesis in this patient.